1 – A Great Lakes Invasive Carp Challenge has netted more than 350 entries.

Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges, with up to eight solutions selected for awards of $25,000.

First-round awards will be announced in February.

For final awards, a select number of Stage 1 awardees will present their ideas for additional cash awards totaling up to $500,000.

A live event is planned for March 2018 in Detroit.

Gov. Rick Snyder announced the Great Lakes Invasive Carp Challenge during his State of the State address in January. The state pledged $1 million to seek innovative methods to prevent the movement of invasive carp into Lake Michigan.

2 – Everyone is affected by rural development.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking a 2017 Census of about 3 million producers.

They’re encouraging those who receive surveys to fill out the questionnaires.

Data collected from the survey affects how resources are directed to things such as roads and disaster relief.